The 1980 Boston Red Sox season was the 80th season in the franchise's

Major League Baseball Major League Baseball (MLB) is a professional baseball league composed of 30 teams, divided equally between the National League (baseball), National League (NL) and the American League (AL), with 29 in the United States and 1 in Canada. MLB i ...

history. The

Red Sox The Boston Red Sox are an American professional baseball team based in Boston. The Red Sox compete in Major League Baseball (MLB) as a member club of the American League (AL) East Division. Founded in as one of the American League's eight ch ...

finished fourth in the

American League East The American League East is one of Major League Baseball's six divisions. MLB consists of an East, Central, and West division for each of its two 15-team leagues, the American League (AL) and National League (baseball), National League (NL). T ...

with a record of 83 wins and 77 losses, 19

games behind In some North American sports, the phrase games behind or games back (often abbreviated GB) refers to a common way to reflect the gap between a leading team and another team in a sports league, conference, or division. Example In the standings ...

the

New York Yankees The New York Yankees are an American professional baseball team based in the Boroughs of New York City, New York City borough of the Bronx. The Yankees compete in Major League Baseball (MLB) as a member club of the American League (AL) Am ...

Manager Management (or managing) is the administration of organizations, whether businesses, nonprofit organizations, or a government bodies through business administration, nonprofit management, or the political science sub-field of public administra ...

Don Zimmer Donald William Zimmer (January 17, 1931 – June 4, 2014) was an American infielder, manager, and coach in Major League Baseball (MLB). Zimmer was involved in professional baseball from 1949 until his death, a span of 65 years, across 8 d ...

was fired with five games left, and Johnny Pesky finished the season as manager.

Offseason

* November 16, 1979: Tony Pérez was signed as a free agent by the Red Sox. * March 30, 1980: The Red Sox traded a player to be named later and cash to the

Philadelphia Phillies The Philadelphia Phillies are an American professional baseball team based in Philadelphia. The Phillies compete in Major League Baseball (MLB) as a member club of the National League (NL) East Division. Since 2004, the team's home stadium has ...

for Dave Rader. The Red Sox completed the deal by sending Stan Papi to the Phillies on May 12.

Regular season

Fred Lynn Fredric Michael Lynn (born February 3, 1952) is an American former professional baseball center fielder who played 17 seasons in Major League Baseball (MLB), mostly with the Boston Red Sox and the California Angels. He was the first player to wi ...

had a .301

batting average Batting average is a statistic in cricket, baseball, and softball that measures the performance of batters. The development of the baseball statistic was influenced by the cricket statistic. Cricket In cricket, a player's batting average is ...

, with 12

home run In baseball, a home run (abbreviated HR) is scored when the Baseball (ball), ball is hit in such a way that the batting (baseball), batter is able to circle the bases and reach home plate safe (baseball), safely in one play without any error ( ...

s and 61 RBIs. Jim Rice hit .294, with 24 homers and 86 RBIs. On the pitching staff, Mike Torrez was 9–16 and

Dennis Eckersley Dennis Lee Eckersley (born October 3, 1954), nicknamed "Eck", is an American former professional baseball pitcher and color commentator. Between 1975 and 1998, he pitched in Major League Baseball (MLB) for the Cleveland Indians, Boston Red Sox, ...

was 12–14.

Rick Burleson Richard Paul Burleson (born April 29, 1951), nicknamed "Rooster", is an American former Major League Baseball shortstop. Burleson, who played for three American League teams over 13 seasons, was an intense ballplayer. Former Boston Red Sox team ...

set an MLB single-season record for double plays turned as a shortstop, 147, which still stands.

Season standings

Boston's record of 83–77 has a fractionally better

winning percentage In sports, a winning percentage or Copeland score is the fraction of games or matches a team or individual has won. The statistic is commonly used in standings or rankings to compare teams or individuals. It is defined as wins divided by the to ...

than Detroit's record of 84–78; .51875 and .51851, respectively.

Record vs. opponents

Notable transactions

* May 30, 1980: Ted Sizemore was released by the Red Sox. * June 3, 1980: Oil Can Boyd was drafted by the Red Sox in the 16th round of the

1980 Major League Baseball draft The 1980 Major League Baseball draft took place in June 1980. The draft saw the New York Mets select Darryl Strawberry first overall. First round selections The following are the first round picks in the 1980 Major League Baseball draft. C ...

Opening Day lineup

Source: The

Milwaukee Brewers The Milwaukee Brewers are an American professional baseball team based in Milwaukee. The Brewers compete in Major League Baseball (MLB) as a member club of the National League (baseball), National League (NL) National League Central, Central Di ...

defeated the Red Sox on

Opening Day Opening Day is the day on which professional baseball leagues begin their regular season. For Major League Baseball (MLB) and most of the American minor leagues, this day typically falls during the first week of April, although in recent year ...

, 9–5, via a walk-off grand slam by Sixto Lezcano.

Roster

Player stats

Batting

''Note: G = Games played; AB = At bats; R = Runs; H = Hits; 2B = Doubles; 3B = Triples; HR = Home runs; RBI = Runs batted in; SB = Stolen bases; BB = Walks; AVG = Batting average; SLG = Slugging average'' Sourc

Pitching

''Note: W = Wins; L = Losses; ERA = Earned run average; G = Games pitched; GS = Games started; SV = Saves; IP = Innings pitched; H = Hits allowed; R = Runs allowed; ER = Earned runs allowed; BB = Walks allowed; SO = Strikeouts'' Sourc

Statistical leaders

Source:

Batting

Source:

Pitching

Source:

Awards and honors

– Rawlings Gold Glove Award, Gold Glove Award (OF) *

Chuck Rainey Charles Walter Rainey III (born June 17, 1940) is an American bass guitarist who has performed and recorded with many well-known acts, including Aretha Franklin, Steely Dan, and Quincy Jones. Rainey is credited for playing bass on more than 1,00 ...

– AL Pitcher of the Month (May) * Jim Rice – AL Player of the Month (September) * Bob Stanley – AL Pitcher of the Month (August) ;

All-Star Game An all-star game is an exhibition game that showcases the best players (the "stars") of a sports league. The exhibition is between two teams organized solely for the event, usually representing the league's teams based on region or division, bu ...

* Tom Burgmeier, reserve P * Carlton Fisk, starting C *

, starting CF * Jim Rice, reserve OF

Farm system

Source:

References

External links

1980 Boston Red Sox team
at ''Baseball-Reference''
1980 Boston Red Sox season
at baseball-almanac.com {{Boston Red Sox Boston Red Sox seasons

Boston Red Sox The Boston Red Sox are an American professional baseball team based in Boston. The Red Sox compete in Major League Baseball (MLB) as a member club of the American League (AL) American League East, East Division. Founded in as one of the Ameri ...